1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an elevator or a lifter, and more particularly to a lifter having a tiltable support rack assembly for supporting and moving or elevating workers and/or objects upward to various elevated working positions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For washing or cleaning the outside walls of buildings, various kinds of scaffolds are required to be set up and attached onto the outside portions of the walls for acting as an aerial ladder and for carrying workers to the desired elevations. These equipments include a complicated configuration having a large number of parts or elements that may not be easily assembled for working purposes and that may not be easily disengaged from each other for storing purposes. In addition, these equipments may not be easily moved elsewhere.
The present applicant had developed another typical elevator or lifter that may be easily moved or carried with the workers, and that may be easily used for elevating the workers to the desired elevations. The mobile lifter has been issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,593 to Huang, and comprises one or more actuators and a support rack for supporting and moving or elevating the workers and/or the objects upward to various elevated working positions. However, the mobile lifter may not be easily used for elevating the heavy planer members, such as the boards, the plates, or the like.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages of the conventional elevators or lifters.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a lifter including a tiltable support rack assembly for supporting and moving or elevating workers and/or objects upward to various elevated working positions.
The other objective of the present invention is to provide a lifter that may be easily moved from place to place for supporting and elevating workers and/or objects upward to various elevated working positions at different locations.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided a lifter comprising an elevator including an upper end, a beam provided above the upper end of the elevator for supporting an object to be elevated, and means for tiltably securing the beam on the upper end of the elevator.
The tiltably securing means includes a base secured on the upper end of the elevator, and a seat for securing to the beam, the seat including a first end rotatably secured to the base with a shaft.
The seat includes two sides each having an oblong hole for slidably receiving the shaft, and means for resiliently supporting the shaft in the seat.
The resiliently supporting means includes a bracket secured to the shaft, and a spring engaged between the bracket and the seat. The bracket includes a column engaged through the spring for retaining the spring in place.
The seat includes a strip secured to the seat and having an orifice formed therein for slidably receiving the column.
The tiltably securing means includes a plate secured on the seat, a board secured to the beam and rotatably secured on the plate, and means for positioning the board to the plate.
The plate includes an upward extending peg engaged through the plate and the board, the positioning means includes a positioning pin attached to the seat and engaged through the plate and the board.
The board includes two or more apertures formed therein, the seat includes means for biasing the positioning pin to engage with the either of the apertures of the board.
A device is further provided for locking the seat to the base, and includes a fastener threaded to the second end of the seat and selectively engaging with the base, for selectively locking the seat to the base.
The beam includes at least one passage formed therein, and a post slidably engaged in the passage of the beam, and means for fastening the post to the beam.
The post includes a plurality of orifices formed therein, the fastening means includes a latch pivotally secured to the beam and having a stud provided on a first end thereof, and means for biasing the stud to engage into either of the orifices of the post.
The beam includes at least one arm rotatably secured to a first side thereof, and a spring blade secured in the beam and engaged with the arm for retaining the arm between a first position perpendicular to the beam and a second position parallel to the beam.
A retaining member may rotatably secured to the post and the arm, and including a non-circular bar, and a coupler secured to the post and the arm and having a depression formed therein for receiving the non-circular bar.
Further objectives and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a careful reading of a detailed description provided hereinbelow, with appropriate reference to accompanying drawings.